Best TV of 2020: 10 Honorable Mentions (Unorthodox, Solar Opposites, Space Force, Teenage Bounty Hunters, Cobra Kai, etc)

Best TV of 2020: 10 Honorable Mentions

This is a little late, but I do a list every year

at http://sophomorecritic.blogspot.com

TV has had an amazing year which has been a blessing during the quarantine. There are a number of shows that would have made honorable mention status in most other years: Archer (FX), Five Apartments (Peacock), Medical Police (Netflix), Studio C (BYU TV), Twilight Zone (CBS All Access), White Lines (Netflix)

Cobra Kai (YouTube Red/Netflix)-The catharsis of landing a devastating flying kick at your bully is at the core of the Cobra Kai experience. The bully-bullied relationship took on added complexity in the show’s second season as it seemed like everyone had an axe to grind based on their socio-economic status or lack of a father figure or the classic “you kissed my boyfriend, prepare to die” scenario. Yes, it was a soapish season but it was one that built the world and developed a lot of solid supporting characters

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Miracle Workers: The Dark Ages (TBS)-This would likely be my tenth pick and I was prepared to write it off, but upon rewatch, however, this show is too darn clever. Show runner Simon Rich wrote the show “Man Seeking Woman” and the short story “What in God’s Name”, upon which the first season is based on, and he is a comic genius. Rich’s story, of extremely unlikely upward mobility in an era where doing anything other than dying of the plague is virtually impossible, is pretty goshdarn endearing.

Middleditch and Schwartz (Netflix)-A live special of Thomas Middleditch (“Silicon Valley”) and Ben Schwartz (“Sonic the Hedgehog”) are geniuses at this art form. They effortlessly switch characters; incorporate comic tics very early on so you’re laughing sooner than later; and think several steps ahead to where the story should go. It’s not too far-fetched to think that they could write a sitcom pilot on the spot. Jesse David Fox wrote an excellent article about how this could resurrect the often maligned form of improv, but…